Luminex Corporation Recognized as Best Technology Company in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX) today announced that the Company has been recognized in the large business category with a Technology Award by the Austin Chamber of Commerce. This year the Austin business community submitted 386 nominations for the Business Awards – the highest number of submissions ever. Of those submissions, 100 finalists were narrowed down to 5 large companies in the Technology category. The Technology Award recognizes a company who has developed an innovative product representing a new and creative solution to addressing a significant problem within their industry.

"We recognize these businesses as paragons for their industries who propel the economy as well as being role models for diverse businesses thriving in Austin," said Austin Chamber Chairman of the Board, Clark Heidrick. "The Greater Austin Business Awards highlight the Austin Chamber's underlying principle of celebrating businesses of all sizes for their achievements and the role they play in the community."

"At Luminex, our passion for innovation inspires us to develop products that improve patient care and laboratory efficiency, reduce overall healthcare costs and accelerate the pace of medical and life-science research," said Patrick J. Balthrop, president and CEO of Luminex Corporation. "All of my colleagues and I are proud of the fact that our products and technology are helping to advance healthcare and science around the world. We are honored to receive the Technology Award for our innovation and technology."

Luminex currently employs hundreds of people worldwide and is transforming global healthcare and life-science research through the development, manufacturing, and marketing of proprietary instruments and bioassays for clinical diagnostics and research. A recognized leader in the Austin biotechnology community and the industry, Luminex technology is commercially available worldwide and in use in leading clinical laboratories, as well as major pharmaceutical diagnostic, biotechnology, and life-science companies.

Although The company's latest innovation, the xTAG® Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel (GPP) is not yet cleared for use in the USA, it is transforming the way gastrointestinal infections are diagnosed and has made a significant impact on the industry. Globally 2 billion people become sick and 1.8 million die from gastrointestinal infections each year. xTAG GPP is the first technology of its kind to simultaneously detect bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents responsible for over 95% of gastrointestinal infections in under 5 hours. To date xTAG GPP has been successfully used to manage global epidemics including the malaria epidemic in Papua New Guinea, and the cholera outbreak in Port-au-Prince Haiti. Last year xTAG GPP was used as a front-line screen to triage patients in the deadly German E. coli outbreak and this year was used by University Hospital of Wales as part of Britain's Health Protection Agency Syndromic Surveillance system for the 2012 Olympic Games. This important assay has set a new standard in GI diagnostic patient care and continues to have significant impact in managing global epidemics and saving lives.

The 2012 Greater Austin Business Awards finalists and winners were honored at the 12th annual gala event on Thursday evening at the Hilton Austin downtown.

About Greater Austin Business Awards

The Greater Austin Business Awards is a competition organized by the Austin Chamber of Commerce to honor excellence in business in the Greater Austin region. Awards are provided to small, medium and large business in the following categories: Community Relations, Customer Service, Health and Wellness, Environment, Innovative Practices, Technology, Non-Profit, and Most Uniquely Austin. Learn more about the Greater Austin Business Awards and more about business and Technology in Austin at http://www.austinchamber.com/austin/.

About Luminex Corporation

Luminex is committed to applying its passion for innovation toward advancing healthcare and research worldwide. The Company is transforming global healthcare and life-science research through the development, manufacturing and marketing of proprietary instruments and assays utilizing xMAP® open-architecture, multi-analyte platform, MultiCode® real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and multiplex PCR-based technologies, that deliver cost-effective rapid results to clinicians and researchers. Luminex's technology is commercially available worldwide and in use in leading clinical laboratories as well as major pharmaceutical, diagnostic, biotechnology and life-science companies. The Company is meeting the needs of customers in markets as diverse as clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical drug discovery, biomedical research including genomic and proteomic research, personalized medicine, biodefense research and food safety. For further information on Luminex Corporation and the latest advances in multiplexing using award winning technology, please visit http://www.luminexcorp.com/.